Winning Buddha's smile

"Winning Buddha's smile" by Charles Mundy Taylor and Jong-u Hong is a translated Korean legend written in the early 20th century. It recounts a sweeping tale of virtue, treachery, fate, and Buddhist-inflected mercy, following the benevolent official Sun-Yen, his selfless daughter Cheng-Si, the wronged scholar San-Houni and his lost son San-Syeng, the usurping minister Ja-Jo-Mi, and the exiled young prince Ki-Si. Expect court intrigue, ordeals at sea, miraculous rescues, and intertwined destinies that test loyalty and love. The opening of this legend introduces its origins and cast, then sets multiple intertwined threads in motion: Sun-Yen warns his king about famine, is framed by the ruthless minister Ja-Jo-Mi, and is exiled; his wife dies after birthing Cheng-Si, he goes blind, and the devoted girl sells herself as a sea sacrifice to fulfill a vow for her father’s future. In a parallel strand, San-Houni is murdered at sea by the brigand Su-Rung, his widow Yeng-Si is rescued by Su-Rung’s kinder brother, gives birth alone, and marks her infant son San-Syeng before abandoning him to safety; Su-Rung later raises the boy as his own. As a youth, San-Syeng uncovers clues to his past, falls in love with Yeng-So-Yei, escapes her household after discovery, and reaches a capital shaken by the king’s death and the young prince Ki-Si’s exile engineered by Ja-Jo-Mi. Meanwhile, Cheng-Si survives the sea on a giant turtle, emerges into the garden where Ki-Si is held, and the two fall in love and secretly marry. Warned by ominous dreams, they burn the house, flee through a hidden tree-cave to the shore, and are saved at the last moment by San-Syeng, who ferries them to safety. Believing the prince dead, Ja-Jo-Mi exults and tightens his grip on power, while rumor and unrest spread—bringing the opening section to a tense pause. (This is an automatically generated summary.)